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After almost three months and approx. 2,200 kilometres I can only say that the "Mefistofele" is bloody perfect. Custom built by Antonio Taverna at Vetta in Padua with a custom steel stem made by Bart Veuger at WIND cyclework and painted by Brady van Dalen at BCP. Corne Bouman made a color-matched custom leather saddle roll for me and I'm thinking about having a Topeak pump painted in the same dark blue metallic color. I still prefer Campagolo 10sp parts since they work flawless and look so much better than Campy's current offerings.

I did destroy a front tire due to a misaligned brake pad and I had to replace the (five year old) saddle (which came of one of my other bikes) after I broke its rail on a speed-bump. But otherwise it runs like clockwork.

Switched a few times between Mavic Ceramics with 25mm Veloflex Master (pictured) and Mavic tubulars with 22mm Conti tubes. Treating the gumwalls with Aquasure (as recommened by Dugast) certainly extends the durability of the tires. Always loved Brooks leather bartape for its feel but also for the fact that it only takes some common shoe polish and an old rag when it starts to look a but dull or worn. The Deda ZeroUno frame gives great comfort, it will be my preferred ride for a very long time...

And if I ever meet an aardvark, I'm going to step on its damn protruding nasal implement until it couldn't suck up an insect if its life depended on it.

Thanks! Aquasure is a neoprene repair liquid originally intended for waterproof repairs on tents and raincoats, etc. Dugast advised to cover the skinwalls of their tubular tires with it right after mounting them on the rims. It protects the cotton casting against rainwater which makes them last much longer and also keeps the skinwalls from getting dirty. I already used it on a set of Dugasts in my retro Peugeot bike and now found that it works equally good on Veloflex clinchers. I applied it on the tires when I mounted them. When I ruined the front tire due to a misalinged brak pad I replaced it with a new Veloflex tire which I did not treat with Aquasure. The result is quite visible in these photos: the rear tire - though older than the front tire - actually looks newer.

And if I ever meet an aardvark, I'm going to step on its damn protruding nasal implement until it couldn't suck up an insect if its life depended on it.

colster wrote:Beautiful bicycle ...but with a rather interesting choice of shifters, whats the rationale behind that?

It's a nod to the past - in the 1990's a lot of climbers used this setup to save some weight. Inconsequent with the steel fork, steel stem, Regal saddle and even the brass top cap and bar plugs, I know, but it looks quite clean and I had the carbon BTP lever in the spare parts box anyway after using it on my Merlin Extralight for a couple of years. I have a similar setup on my Presto and my Peugeot.

And if I ever meet an aardvark, I'm going to step on its damn protruding nasal implement until it couldn't suck up an insect if its life depended on it.